5 Design Things To Do This Week

Nearly 70 years after the Second World War ended, there’s an ongoing debate among historians, architects and archaeologists about how to properly preserve Auschwitz, the site of the Holocaust’s atrocities, specifically the neighboring site Birkenau, or Auschwitz II.

Los Angeles-based architects Eric Kahn and Russell Thomsen started developing a proposal for the site, “Thinking the Future of Auschwitz.” Eric Kahn died in June of this year, but Thomsen carried on, and now the fruits of their work is on show at SCI-Arc. A discussion with Russell Thomsen and SCI-Arc director Eric Owen Moss will take place this evening. Coming up on the next DnA, KCRW’s Avishay Artsy reports on Kahn and Thomsen’s project in the context of the debate about how to memorialize the Holocaust.

In its 2nd year, the New Urbanism Film Festival is about moving “the conversation about urban planning out of the text book and beyond the council chambers and into the movie theater.” The three-day event includes feature-length and short films about bicycling, urban farming, architecture and healthy cities, along with panel discussions, a pop-up bookstore and more. Films include Trainsforming America, a call for high-speed rail by Rebecca Autumn Sansom, SOME SHULMAN ARCHITECTURE, by Susan Horowitz, about the work of Israeli architect Ben-Ami Shulman, one of the creators of Tel Aviv’s 1930s “White City” architecture and Plant This Movie, about urban farming in cities across the world.

Curated by Glassell Park-based ceramic artist Bari Ziperstein, Claypool is a show that features the work of seven local ceramists. The works include both thrown and hand built pieces that draw on influences ranging from the Funk Movement, architecture and Scandanavian design. Artist Lauren Spencer King designed the limited edition poster for the exhibition, shown above. It is a part of the Highland Park-based NELA Art Walk that takes place every second Saturday.

Peter Shire is an LA treasure, an endearing Echo Park-based artist whose colorful, adhoc ceramics and sculptures are enjoying a renaissance due to the revival of interest in postmodernism. Now his work is the subject of a solo show opening this Saturday at A+D Museum, with a public reception this Thursday. The works on display will focus on his public art work, and you’ll see his architectural models, drawings, ceramics and more.

Creative leaders from across Los Angeles (including DnA’s Frances Anderton) converge at deLaB’s first Making LA Conference to talk about challenges facing Los Angeles in the realm of water, transportation, community and other realms this Friday at the Los Angeles River Center & Gardens in Cypress Park. Speakers include Compton Mayor Aja Brown, landscape architect Mia Lehrer, well-known seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, city planner and walking advocate Deborah Murphy and many more. Frances will talk to WeTap‘s Evelyn Wendel about why civic life and health could benefit from restoring public drinking fountains to parks and schools.